Robert Menendez urges re-evaluation of U.S.-Russia relationship

8/11/13 10:49 AM EDT

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says ongoing problems with Russia, including it granting temporary asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden, may mean it's time to re-evaluate the U.S.-Russia relationship.

"We seem to be more invested in this effort to create a relationship with Russia that can be productive for both countries more than [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is," Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "And so it seems to me that as we've tried to restart this relationship several times, that maybe now is a moment to pause and think about how we're going to move forward with Russia."

Menendez cited Russia being "unresponsive" on Syria, nuclear arms, treatment of gays and lesbians and stopping American adoptions of Russian children.

His counterpart in the House, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.), also offered an unfavorable assessment of Putin.

“When we're talking about the former head of the KGB, President Putin in Russia, this has not been an ally," Royce said. "As you know, the administration has tried to engage him on several issues. ... And we have not seen any reciprocation from the Russians because this former KGB agent still has a sense of hostility to the West and to the United States.”

Both Menendez and Royce said Snowden would have a fair trial in the United States and should have sought whistleblower protections at home rather than fleeing the country.